View source for Codec

''See Also the [http://www.videolan.org/doc/vlc-user-guide/en/ch02.html#id291422 Official documentation: list of modules]''

{{wikipedia|List of codecs}}
{{mmwiki|Video codecs|Category:Video_Codecs}}
{{mmwiki|Audio codecs|Category:Audio_Codecs}}
{{mmwiki|Containers|Category:Container_Formats}}

'''Codec''' is short for coder/decoder.

To know what codecs are readable with {{VLC}}, ''see [[VLC Features Formats]]''.

For [http://discerning.com/topics/audiovideo/video_encoding.html portability to almost all decoders], we recommend
using the [[MPEG-1]] standard of vcodec=mp1v, acodec=mpga, and mux=mpeg1.  See the [[MPEG]] Wiki page for more details on the other MPEG standards.

To save a file in a different codec, you can use the transcoding [[wizard]] or [[transcode]] from the [[command prompt]] with a command like this:
:vlc file --sout='#transcode{vcodec=''mp1v'', vb=''1024'', acodec=''mpga'', ab=''128''}:std{access=file, mux=''mpeg1'', url=''C:\file_name.mpg''}'


==Video Codecs==
Use the "name" part in your vcodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mp1v'''
| [[MPEG-1]] Video - recommended for portability
|-
| '''mp2v'''
| [[MPEG-2]] Video - used in DVDs
|-
| '''mp4v'''
| [[MPEG-4]] Video
|-
| '''SVQ1'''
| [[Sorenson Video]] v1
|-
| '''SVQ3'''
| Sorenson Video v3
|-
| '''WMV1'''
| [[Windows Media Video]] v1
|-
| '''WMV2'''
| Windows Media Video v2
|-
| WMV3
| Windows Media Video v3, also called Windows Media 9 ([[Common_Problems#WMV_files|unsupported]])
|-
| '''DVSD'''
| [[Digital Video]]
|-
| '''MJPG'''
| [[MJPEG]]
|-
| '''H263'''
| [[H263]]
|-
| '''h264'''
| [[H264]]
|-
| '''theo'''
| [[Theora]]
|-
| '''IV20'''
| [[Indeo Video]]
|-
| IV40
| Indeo Video version 4 or later ([[Common_Problems#Problems_playing_types_of_files|unsupported]])
|-
| '''RV10'''
| [[Real Media Video]]
|-
| '''cvid'''
| [[Cinepak]]
|-
| '''VP31'''
| [[On2 VP]]
|-
| '''FLV1'''
| [[Flash Video]]
|-
| '''CYUV'''
| [[Creative YUV]]
|-
| '''HFYU'''
| [[Huffman YUV]]
|-
| '''MSVC'''
| [[Microsoft]] Video v1
|-
| '''MRLE'''
| Microsoft [[RLE]] Video
|-
| '''AASC'''
| [[Autodesc]] RLE Video
|-
| '''FLIC'''
| [[FLIC]] video
|-
| '''QPEG'''
| [[QPEG]] Video
|}

==Audio Codecs==
Use the "name" part in your acodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mpga'''
| [[MPEG audio]] (recommended for portability)
|-
| '''mp3'''
| [[MP3 audio|MPEG Layer 3 audio]]<!-- - see also [[How To/Create an MP3]] -->
|- 
| '''mp4a'''
| [[MP4 audio]]
|-
| '''a52'''
| [[Dolby Digital]] ([[A52]] or [[AC3]])
|-
| '''vorb'''
| [[Vorbis]]
|-
| '''spx'''
| [[Speex]]
|-
| '''flac''' or '''fl32'''
| [[FLAC]]
|}
===No-"name" Codecs===

* [[DTS]]
* [[AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)]]
* [[Windows Media Audio]]
* [[DV Audio]]
* [[LPCM]]
* [[ADPCM]]
* [[AMR]]
* [[QuickTime Audio]]
* [[Real Audio]]
* [[MACE]]
* [[MusePack]]

==Subtitle Codecs==

See [[SubtitlesCodec|Subtitles Codec]] for more information.

{|
|-
| '''CVD'''
| [[CVD|CVD Subtitles]]
|-
| '''SVCD (Overlay Graphics)'''
| [http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/svcd-ogt-subtitles.html SVCD Subtitle (OGT) Information]
|-
| '''SRT'''
| [[SRT|Subrip Subtitles]]
|-
| '''SSA/ASS'''
| [[SSA|Sub Station Alpha or Advanced Sub Station Subtitles]]
|-
| '''SubViewer'''
| [[Subviewer|SubViewer Subtitles]]
|-
| '''VobSub'''
| [[VobSub|VobSub Subtitles]]
|-
| '''DVD subtitles'''
| [[DVD Subtitles]]
|-
| '''VPlayer'''
| [[Vplayer Subtitles]]
|-
| '''MicroDVD'''
| [[MicroDVD Subtitles]]
|-
| '''Sami'''
| [[Sami Subtitles]]

|}
[[Link title]]

== Muxers ==
Use the "name" part in you mux=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mpeg1'''
| [[MPEG-1]] multiplexing - recommended for portability.  Only works with mp1v video and mpga audio, but works on all known players
|-
| '''ts'''
| [[MPEG-TS|MPEG Transport Stream]], primarily used for streaming MPEG.  Also used in DVDs
|-
| '''ps'''
| [[MPEG-PS|MPEG Program Stream]], primarily used for saving MPEG data to disk.
|-
| '''mp4'''
| [[MPEG-4|MPEG-4 mux format]], used only for MPEG-4 video and MPEG audio.
|-
| '''avi'''
| [[AVI]]
|-
| '''asf'''
| [[ASF]]
|-
| '''dummy'''
| [[dummy]] output, can be used in creation of [[MP3]] files.
|-
| '''ogg'''
| [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org's] [[ogg]] container format.  Can contain audio, video, and metadata.
|}

== See Also ==
* [[FourCC]] and http://www.fourcc.org/
* http://discerning.com/topics/audiovideo/video_encoding.html

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